PLATE VII. (MOTHS AND BRANCH WITH FLOWERS AND PODS).
Benjamin Wilkes
Artist's BiographyPlate VII. (Moths and branch with flowers and pods).
Engraving, hand-colored, 1773.
Image size 10 x 8" (255 x 200 mm).
Good condition with original hand color. LOCATION: New York City
Inventory Number: 60818
Price: $385.00 Publisher : Published in London. From Benjamin Wilkes' "One Hundred Twenty Copper-Plates of English Moths and Butterflies." Wilkes was a painter in oils and an enthusiastic amateur entomologist. There is evidence that he colored these engravings himself. Despite its title, this work is really, as De Belder notes, "a great flower book: The plants depicted dominate the composition, and are actually more artistically accomplished than the attending insects." The mixture of the two elements adds to the engraving's charm. 18th-19th Century Subjects , Natural History , Butterflies & Insects
